COUNTY NEWS: Sussex parents come together as superheroes to scare off ‘killer clowns’

Superheroes at the ready!

Published:17:03Thursday 20 October 2016

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A group of parents in a Sussex town have come together to dress up as superheroes in response to the ‘killer clown’ craze.

Terry Culleton, his partner Hayley Brown and several others came up with the idea in a bid to make children feel safe.

Terry, from Hastings, said: “Due to the craze hundreds of school kids are terrified to go to school or out for Halloween this year.

“A lot of them won’t even sleep in their own rooms now, so my partner and I and a few parents got together to be superheroes for the kids to make them smile and feel safe again.

“We will be dressing up and joining parents outside local schools in and around Hastings to meet and greet the children after school to reinforce their faith in characters.

“We are also throwing a Halloween party on October 31 for all the children who are too scared to go out and enjoy Halloween so they have somewhere to go, have fun and feel safe.”

He said a webpage has been set up on Facebook, called Super Heroes at your local schools, which already has more than 700 members since it was launched last week.

Terry added: “Parents are asking us to attend their homes because their children are too scared to go to bed. We dress up as superheroes like Ironman. The ‘killer clown’ craze is getting really bad as children are saying they don’t want to go to school, worried clowns are going to follow them. You know what kids’ imaginations are like.”

The so-called ‘killer clown’ craze appears to have been inspired by terrifying pranks in South Carolina in the USA, where police first received reports of clowns lurking near launderettes and trying to lure children into the woods. In some incidents in the UK, the ‘clowns’ have been spotted carrying knives, baseball bats and other offensive weapons.

There have been reports children have been left frightened following encounters with clowns in the county, such as in Eastbourne.

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